The Commissioners to John Gilbank

[dateline] Passy Novr. 10. 1778

[salute] Sir

We have received your Letter of October the sixth, and wish it was in our Power to
do more for officers in your situation than We do, altho that amounts in the whole
to a large sum. But as We have al• { 202 } ready lent you as much Money as We have <lent>1 been able to lend to other officers of your Rank and in your Circumstances, <it is not in our Power>2 we cannot without a blameable Partiality <to> lend you any more. We, are, sir your most obedient humble servants3

3. On 12 Sept. the Commissioners had ordered that 360 livres be paid to Gilbank (vol.
6:360). Their refusal to provide additional funds was not unusual, for on 11 Nov. (LbC, Adams Papers) they wrote an almost identical letter to Capt. William Hamilton and Lt. John Welch
who, through payments approved on 30 Sept. and 10 Oct., had together received 1,032 livres (vol. 6:361).

Jacques Le Maire to John Adams: A Translation

[dateline] Nantes, 10 November 1778

[salute] Sir

My departure being fixed at the end of this month by the contract made by Mr. Lee
with Mr. Bonnefil1 to transport the goods here belonging to Virginia, I dare, sir, to solicit a letter
of recommendation from you in my favor for the Governor of Virginia. Also be so kind
as to send me the reply to the letter I delivered to you from him.2 I apply to you all the more eagerly knowing that your generosity and sense of justice
will justify the zeal that I have exercised in the faithful fulfillment of my mission.
Without prejudice I venture to recognize in my conduct an inviolable and disinterested
attachment to the service of the United { 203 } Provinces to which I am entirely devoted, and I am very happy if I can prove to you
the truth of the sentiments of which I pray you know me to be imbued.

I have the honor to be, with deep respect, sir, your very humble and very obedient
servant

1. That is, Bondfield. William Lee reported to Gov. Thomas Jefferson on 24 Sept. 1779
and 15 Aug. 1780 that Arthur Lee had chartered the ships that carried Virginia's property
to America and that, so far as he knew, it had all gone by the Governor Livingston, the Hunter, and the Mary Feron (Jefferson, Papers, 3:90–93, 551). According to John Bondfield's letter to the Commissioners of 23 Jan. 1779 (below), those three vessels were wholly owned by himself, William Haywood, and James
Price.

2. JA did not respond to this letter, nor did he mention it in his reply of 8 Dec. (LbC, Adams Papers) to a second letter from Le Maire of 3 Dec. (Adams Papers). Le Maire's second letter again asked for JA's reply to Gov. Patrick Henry's letter of 5 March (vol. 5:408–410), but did not request a recommendation. As a result, JA's reply of 8 Dec. was essentially a covering letter for his to Patrick Henry of the same date (below).